Scott first got attention with his Pro Street ’67 Nova, which was HOT ROD’s ’79 Street Machine of the Year. It became a benchmark for the Pro Street movement that exploded only a few years later. But he truly lit the world, and the magazine, on fire in 1988 when then-editor Jeff Smith flew to Scott’s home garage shop in Dayton, Ohio, hopped in the now-famous Cheez Whiz ’55 Chevy Pro Streeter, and the two of them drove it to California, where they ended up at Los Angeles County Raceway and ran in the mid-10s after the 2,000-mile cross-country drive. This was when the fat-tired Pro cars were pretty much just fairgrounds cruisers. The Whiz could win at nearly any car show it went to with flawless paint (at least before the drive), a fully functional interior that bettered many of the top street rods of the day, and the obvious ability to make the long haul, years before either the Victory Tour or Power Tour™ were even conceived. The story of the road trip was called “Pro Interstate,” in the Dec. ’88 issue, and the car was chosen for HOT ROD’s Hot Rod of the Year in the same issue.

2/9This car really kicked off the trend of removing chrome and flash from the engine compartment. “It all started with the intake manifold,” Scott says, “I had it on the table, and there was tan paint in my gun, so I thought, why not? John Lingenfelter was willing to work with me on everything, like the black carburetor that I knew from a performance standpoint wasn’t the best idea.” It was also perhaps the first example of black-anodized AN fittings, instead of the red-and-blue finish they come with. The single-stage, direct-port nitrous system is to make sure the car runs in the 10s while still being capable of the long haul. Scott says, “My version of detail was a little different than most people back then. They used as much chrome as possible, but to me that visually detracts from what you’re looking at. If you have a piece of chrome next to something that’s brushed or next to a piece that’s painted, it stands out more.”

Unlike so many of the cars of any genre built in the ’80s, especially the Pro Streeters, the Cheez Whiz ’55 is only a little bit dated with its dipped-in-color look (no chrome, all paint) and airbrushed graphics. Even so, if somebody built it tomorrow, we’d strongly consider shooting a feature on it. It’s that cool.

6/9

This is just one of the hot rods Scott has built over the years, in addition to a ton of fully custom bikes, all out of a cramped, little garage behind his house, where he still builds cars today. He’s nowhere close to wealthy—never has been—and wouldn’t have a checkbook car even if he won the lottery tomorrow. Everything you see comes from his creative mind and bloody knuckles.

7/9Jim Parsons’ ’57 Chevy had a flip frontend and straight axle its whole life, until Scott convinced him to drop it. The stance and rake are perfect for a ’57, and it’s all Scott’s work—the car doesn’t use airbags. It now has dropped spindles, new framerails with a new tub job at the rear, and leaf springs.

The ’57

Far less famous than Cheez Whiz is Scott’s ’57 that followed. He first saw this car when he was nine years old and, over the course of a decade, became friends with the owner, who had owned it since 1964. Scott helped build it through constant iterations, eventually painting it black, removing the straight axle, and installing the American Racing wheels. The owner got tired of it, and Scott bought it, but soon sold it to a guy in Tennessee, who sold it to a guy in California, and it flipped through several other owners before ending up with Scott’s buddy Jim Parsons (who still has it). Scott says, “All we’ve done to it is maintenance stuff, and he drives it all over the place. He loves it and will never sell it.”